Windows 10 Redstone 4 (1803)

I don't know whether anyone has seen this information already but we're due an upgrade to Windows 10 this month, version 1803 and apparently code-named 'Redstone 4'. There is tons of information from the insider builds on what to expect here: https://www.howtogeek.com/340688/whats-coming-in-windows-10s-redstone-4-update-available-march-2018/

ubuysa said:

I don't know whether anyone has seen this information already but we're due an upgrade to Windows 10 this month, version 1803 and apparently code-named 'Redstone 4'. There is tons of information from the insider builds on what to expect here: https://www.howtogeek.com/340688/whats-coming-in-windows-10s-redstone-4-update-available-march-2018/

Click to expand...

Wow, that’s quite a substantial update, looks like there are a load of features that were delayed from the fall creators. Looks positive. Will be interesting to see exactly what telemetry settings are sent, I’m sure they’ll be quite tame.

From the article:

HomeGroup Is Now Discontinued

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Well that's annoying - I know it could be flaky, but I'd rather they fix or improve on it rather than removing it. That's going to be a shock if suddenly people can't access files without any warning!

Microsoft encourages you to use modern solutions like OneDrive file sharing, or the Windows 10 Share functionality for folders and printers.

Click to expand...

I love OneDrive, but that's silly - sharing over the Internet and on limited cloud storage is infeasible if you've got more than a few GBs.

Sharing meanwhile isn't more modern (the UI changes in Windows 10 doesn't count), it actually pre-dates Homegroups by a long while (plus it makes no sense for HTG to conflate them - Homegroup is a subset of Windows sharing functionality in that it provides a target group to share with). I guess in practice I'll be going back to sharing with Everyone (or using Vista's Public folders) - but it was nice to have a separate group with its own password (so you can give someone your wifi password without them seeing your homegroup files - or important to have the extra layer of security, consider the recent wifi security flaw), without the hassle of having to share with multiple users individually.

Although Microsoft never confirmed a release date (and still haven't) the 'Spring Creators' rollout was widely expected to begin on April 10th. It now seems that a last minute problem has been identified by the insiders that has caused the rollout to be put on hold. It's still expected before the end of April but probably not until the end of the month now, the 24th perhaps?

http://news.softpedia.com/news/windows-10-spring-creators-update-reportedly-delayed-520622.shtml
https://www.windowslatest.com/2018/04/11/windows-10-spring-creators-update-release-reportedly-delayed/
https://www.techspot.com/news/74121-windows-10-spring-creators-update-faces-delay-after.html

More news....

The official name of Redstone 4 will be 'Windows 10 April 2018 Update' and most reports have it slated for Monday April 30th - which it kind of has to be if that's the name! It's build 17134 but I don't know yet whether it will be version 1803 or 1804, I suspect the latter.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsex...-of-your-time-with-the-new-windows-10-update/

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3269454/windows/microsofts-windows-10-april-2018-update-ships-april-30.html

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-announces-the-windows-10-april-2018-update-and-its-coming-on-monday

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/04/27/1436209/windows-10-april-2018-update-is-coming-on-april-30

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/27/17289598/microsoft-windows-10-april-2018-update-release-date-features

PS. I've been hearing rumours that Microsoft may stay with an April release date instead of March so that the version suffix becomes '04' instead of '03'. It's been pointed out that the Spring 2020 update would be 2003 if released in March and the chances of software confusing Windows 10 2003 with the old Windows Server 2003 OS are probably not zero......

PPS. I've also just seen that support for Windows 10 Anniversary Update ended on April 10th 2018.

It's available now at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

I clean installed the April 2018 update on my Optimus IV laptop last night.

It was a pretty normal install, although the Network setup in the OOBE seemed to take forever, so long in fact that I started to wonder whether the installation had stalled, but it did complete ok in the end.

The only other major thing I noticed is that instead of a single screen when you enable/disable all the Microsoft reporting options which we've had previously, each of those options is on a separate screen with a Yes/No selection. It's a bit tedious after a while. My guess is that Microsoft are hoping people will not want to wade carefully through these screens and will 'click through' taking all the defaults.

Oh, the installation of drivers, which in the past has not happened until you run Windows Update, now seems to happen 'under the covers', presumably as soon as you connect to the Internet. When I ran Windows Update for the first time it only found the Defender signature update but on checking update history all the drivers were already installed and dated that day. I'm guessing that this is why the network setup in the OOBE took so long, the drivers were probably being installed at that point. It's a pity the information messages don't say that.....

It is version 1803 and although I didn't have time to test it terribly thoroughly, it does look to be stable on my Optimus IV. I'll clean install this desktop tomorrow...